On Clubs: The three most villanous clubs in the world.

This is my list of the top three most villanous clubs in the world. Allow me to explain: some clubs are just absolute villains on the world stage. These clubs are hated the world over and most of them with good reason. It could be for any number of reasons, but these three have a lot in common.

These are the clubs that you love to hate, but in a sense that isn't bad. In fact, it's what makes world football so great and fun to watch, that you can have these clubs that you absolutely despise. And so, without further ado, here is my list of the top three most villanous clubs in world football, starting with number three:

3. Internazionale Milano.



Inter are the most successful club in Italian football. It's difficult to argue otherwise. Last season, the club took home the treble (UEFA Champions League, Seria A title, Coppa Italia) under Jose Mourinho.

But, that greatness comes at a steep price. Inter's starting eleven under Mourinho, and even in the years before he got there, field no Italian national players. Not one. This is a club literally made up by absolute stars. Samuel Eto'o, Javier Zanetti, Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Wesley Sneijder. This is not the kind of roster that any old team can field.

And then the Italian players that are actually on the roster are guys like Materazzi, who will dive at the slightest touch and roll around on the ground like a baby. This is the man who incited the Zidane headbutt by calling Zidane's recently hospitalized mother a terrorist whore. These are not classy players.

And that's a point you can make about the style that Inter has played throughout their history. It's defend defend defend, and then get some bullshit goal on a counterattack that happens to roll past the keeper. These are wins in the smallest of margins and in the least impressive of ways, and it's the way Inter has played for years. I'm sorry, I just don't want to see a team whose entire eleven plays defense behind the ball and makes no attempt to challenge the ball until it gets to the final third and then counterattacks. It's not beautiful football. And that wouldn't be so frustrating if this team didn't field guys like Eto'o and Sneijder, who are capable of the most beautiful of passes, shows of skill, and arcing runs across the field. On an Inter side, they're just a body to stand in the way of the opposition, and then run aimlessly down the field when the ball comes to them.

This is what makes Inter a villanous squad, they're complete lack of respect for the sportsmanship of even attempting to play an open game of football coupled with a star-studded cast of players that you kick yourself everyday to see playing for them.

But there is a silver lining. Hatred of Inter means more passion for Seria A sides that challenge them. My personal favorite is AC Milan, who are city rivals with Inter. Milan are famous for getting great players in their final twilight years, like Clarence Seedorf, Ronaldhino, Andrea Pirlo or Gianluca Zambrotta.

Or maybe you like Roma, who played Inter in the Coppa Italia. Roma has Italian greats like Francisco Totti, or Luca Toni. And then they have underrated greats like Rodrigo Taddei.

Or even still you could like Juventus, who have a great history of fabulous players like Zinedine Zidane and continue that tradition with some of the best players in the world, like Gianluigi Buffon.

All of that to say, hating Inter does have it's bright spots.

2. Manchester City.



Manchester City are one of those clubs, like Everton, Tottenham, and Aston Villa, that have been consistently bubbling just under the cusp of Premier League greatness. They have never won the Premiership, and have generally struggled in major tournaments as well. And the reason for that is in the way they manage their team.

It's really kind of shameful the way Manchester City approaches the business side of their team. They have a turnover rate of about ten to fifteen players each year, which means that literally almost a third of their squad is entirely new each year. What that means is that their teams have no chemistry or footballing abilities, meaning that they have to rely on the efforts of one man, like Carlos Tevez.

The principle of "throwing money at a problem until it goes away," applies to how City manages their squad in the Premier League. They will literally buy whoever is good and seems to be reasonably unhappy.

THe best evidence of this is their relentless pursuit of Inter's Mario Balotelli. Other clubs turned away when they observed his horrible attitude (Balotelli refused to play defense in the Champions League semi-final and could be seen arguing with his manager Mourinho, who evenutally got fed up and walked away). Balotelli is not a team player, but City could care less as long as he can do a rainbow flick and shoot a ball at 30 kilometers an hour.

City will never be able to challenge Manchester United, Chelsea, or Arsenal (or Liverpool, for that matter) if they continue dealing with their squad the way that they do. But the fact that they do this and the fact that they have the wads of cash that they do puts unnecessary pressure on recent transfers, inflates the transfer fee in the market, and wastes the talent of players like Aleksander Kolorav and Jerome Boateng, who may ride the bench during their time at City.

1. Real Madrid.



It's really ironic that Real Madrid have to be the undisputed number one biggest villain in world football. It's ironic because world football as we know it would not exist without Real Madrid. They were the first real honest to God football club and for a long time they were the only good one. The tradition of this club alone is a staggering achievement.

But, with all of that said, this is a club that has fallen prey to it's own tradition of success.

At the end of practically every season now, if Madrid didn't win the treble or at least La Liga, the manager is fired. That's just the way they operate. They gut the entire system and start over.

But when you look at Real Madrid, you can't talk about hating them without talking about the players they field nowadays. Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuain, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Arjen Robben, David Beckham, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso. The list goes on. A lot of these guys are very professional, and are great players. But others, like Ronaldo, have come to typify the Madrid attitude of superiority.

As the former manager Pellegrini said, Madrid are a team of guitarists. If you asked them to play piano, they couldn't do it. They all just play lead guitar. And for that reason, their game is about high powered attack with a lot of holes in the back. Now, those holes are plugged by Iker Casillas, but before quite possibly the greatest keeper in history was in front of goal, Madrid scored 5 and let in 4 every game.

The silver lining of hating Real Madrid is, that you get to love Barcelona. This rivalry known as El Clasico is probably the biggest rivalry in the world.

This is my list of the three biggest villains on the world football club stage. Do you have others/think these clubs are heros? Let's talk.